Yakima, Washington – United States Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref announced that today, United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice granted the United States’s motion for preliminary injunction and ordered three large dairies located north of Granger, Washington, in the Lower Yakima Valley to provide well testing and bottled water or water treatment systems to nearby community members at risk from nitrate-contaminated wells.
This action, brought under the Safe Drinking Water Act, seeks to ensure access to safe and clean drinking water and is part of the lawsuit, filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in June of 2024, that alleges that dairies in the Lower Yakima Valley have contributed nitrate to the area’s groundwater and contaminated drinking water wells. Nitrate is an acute contaminant. A single exposure can pose serious health risks, including a condition in infants known as methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome,” that can result in death.
In the court’s order granting the United States’ motion for preliminary injunction, the court ordered the dairies to test drinking water wells in an area up to 3.5 miles downgradient of the dairies and to provide and maintain reverse-osmosis water treatment systems or bottled water to homes where this testing finds nitrate levels above 10 milligrams per liter. The court also ordered the dairies to immediately conduct groundwater monitoring and test a lined lagoon for leaks.
This ruling is part of an ongoing legal action against the dairies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the DOJ also seek to address the risk to nearby residents from the dairies’ ongoing contamination of groundwater and to resolve the dairies’ failure to comply with outstanding requirements of their 2013 agreement with EPA.
“Everyone deserves access to clean, safe drinking water,” stated U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref. “My office is committed to protecting the health and safety of all Washington residents. Strong and fair enforcement of public health and environmental laws protect our families and make our region safer and stronger.”
Dan Opalski, Deputy Regional Administrator for EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle said, “EPA is committed to continuing its work with public health agencies, community groups, and the agriculture industry to address the complex public health challenges of legacy and ongoing nitrate contamination in the Lower Yakima Valley.”
The EPA is urging nearby residents to visit EPA’s Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater webpage to learn whether their well is in the area affected by the ruling and to accept upcoming offers for well testing. To comply with the court’s order, the dairies must submit a plan for testing residential wells within 30 days and complete the testing within 60 days of EPA’s approval of a plan. People can also call the EPA’s dedicated hotline at 509-204-1941 or 888-508-6344 for more information.
For residences located outside of the area impacted by today’s ruling, free well testing and alternative water is available from the Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Management Area Safe Drinking Water Initiative or by calling 866-886-7117.